EPA Must Put More Analysis Into Permit For Offshore Oil Drilling Waste in Beaufort

摘要

A general permit for discharge of waste streams in the Beaufort Sea during oil exploration was mostly upheld by a federal appeals court decision June 29, but the Environmental Protection Agency will have to do more analysis of one part of the Clean Water Act permit on remand from the court (Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm'n v. EPA, 9th Cir., No. 13-70633, 6/29/15). The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to remand the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for more analysis to support additional restrictions on discharges of 13 waste streams. The court ruled against the plaintiff on 12 of the waste streams but remanded the, permit to the EPA for determination of whether non-contact cooling water could affect bowhead whales.